Ben Butler presented by Gloucester Stage Company

Richard Strand’s Ben Butler, a smart and funny discourse on race, protocol and our sense of humanity garnered high critical acclaim during its Off Broadway run in 2016.

The sharply comic play takes place in the middle of the Civil War, 1861 at Virginia’s Union-held Fort Monroe under the command of General Benjamin Butler. When three escaped slaves show up seeking sanctuary, General Butler is faced with an impossible moral dilemma – follow the letter of the law and return the escapees back to the Confederacy, or make a game-changing move that could alter the course of US history? The bold and bright refugee, Shepard Mallory demands an audience with General Butler and what ensues is a battle of wits between two equally formidable men at the edge of a country ripped in half.

Joe Discher who helmed the show’s world premiere production in 2014 and the Off Broadway production in 2016, makes his GSC debut directing Ben Butler. Richard Strand’s Ben Butler, runs from August 2 through August 25. Performances are Wednesday through Saturday at 7:30 pm and Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 pm at Gloucester Stage Company, 267 East Main Street, Gloucester, MA.